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^Hnlu’lain 














H poem 


READ BY 

-Surgeon / UTiafhan ^Ha^er 

October ii, 1894 

AT 

^be iDebicatton of a monument 

BY the 

Sixteenth Connecticut 

WHERE THEY FOUGHT AT ANTIETAM 
September ij, 1862 


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HARTFORD, CONN. 

Ipress of Zbc Case, locfcwooJi S. 36ratnart> Company 
1894 


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Published by the Executive Committee 
of the 

Sixteenth Connecticut Association. 






EDICATED 



_ .Xs ) TO ( gX. _ 

jay Brave and 
Faithful Comrades 


•*> 


if 

i 


WHOSE INDIVIDUAL HISTORY, ENDURANCE, SUFFERINGS, AND LOYAL 
DEVOTION IN CAMPAIGNS, IN HOSPITAL, AND IN PRISON, 

NO ONE HAD BETTER OPPORTUNITIES TO KNOW — 


£$e ^trteent^ Connecticut 































IRnmbcr of flDeit in action 779 
dumber Ikilleb anb Mounbeb 204 





MONUMENT 

OF THE 

i6th Connecticut at Antietam 
















'slK’nliefam 


Comrades ! the value of a thing 

^ m ^ Is stamped by sacrifice we bring 
In its attainment. If bright gold 
Like sand and pebbles ’round us rolled, 

And pearls like daisies blossomed nigh, 

We should admire — yet let them lie! 

’Tis by the effort and the strain, 

The reaching forth with might and main, 

The sudden summons into play 
Of forces that within us lay, 

The risks we boldly gauge and take, 

The loss we dare though hearts should break, 






Tlrfntiefam 


The living price, whate’er it be, 

Which we fling in for victory, 

By all we gave and all we lost — 

A chosen self-appointed cost — 

We mark on scales of human fame 
The human value of our aim. 

Who senses e’er the merry day 
Of childhood’s growth or boyhood’s play 
When, sweet life stirring, every hour 
Brings keener knowledge, firmer power, 
And forces weave from span to span 
The mightier texture of a man ? 

Who senses it, till, past recall, 

The self-same forces fail and fall ? 

And who can realize the worth 
Of all the miracles on earth 



^Hntiefam 


That, commonplace and everyday, 

Compel our course? The lightsome ray, 
The air we breathe, the earth below 
That moulds the fruit, the water’s flow, 
The sense with which we see and deal, 
The heart by which we love and feel, 
The liberty that makes us man — 

All these we have. Yet never can 
We know their worth until we need 
And have them not; then, stung to deed 
By courage born of stress and pain, 

We combat, that we might regain 
What erst we held at lightsome rate — 

A birthright; till avenging fate 
Demands for it the bloody fee 
Of battle and of victory. 




'^Wntiefam 


’Tis only thus we sense the cost 
Of what we held and what we lost. 

So was our Union. Mighty source 
Of power and glory, and the force 
That awed the world, and kept us free 
Forefended by the boundless sea. 

It was the force that made us great, 
Where each one stood for every State, 
And every State for each was gaged, 
And friendly interests but waged 
A war of mutual excellence. 

Yet knew we not, and could not sense 
The life-need of this bond of power, 
Until it broke. Then, in one hour, 
With sudden jar the wide-spread land 
Did see, and feel, and understand 




























^{ntieiam 


What Union was, what it must be — 

Our guard of peace and liberty! 

Then, like a sea, the hearts of all 
That loved their country, rose. A call 

[knows ? 

Went forth — from whom, from whence,—who 
It flamed up as the wild wind blows: 

From every lip rang forth the cry, 

And every heart beat quick reply, 

And every hand was raised and swore 
Union for aye and evermore! 

Far o’er the hills and through the dales, 
Resistless as the storm-king sails, 

This rally leaped from ear to ear. 

It blew out prudence, cast out fear, 

Shredded apart with ne’er a strife 
The ordinary bonds of life, 


































































































































And stamped stern purpose on each soul 
To save the country, one and whole! 

This brought us here — a thousand men 
With hearts on fire—but bare in ken 
Of warlike methods and of arms. 

Such as they came from shops and farms, 
From busy mart, from college halls, 

From life ’tween close-set office walls, 

They stood in line — undrilled, untrained. 
Though shrapnel burst and bullets rained 
Beyond the broad brook’s verdant banks, 
Among the green corn’s waving ranks, 

They fill the gap ! — Forward! — Advance! — 
They send their lead down in the dance 
Of Death, who sweeps with crimson hand 
O’er the blue hills of Maryland. 








































































































^fniietam 


And forward still! Stern duty placed 
Their brave and untried ranks. — Square faced 
Against the picked men of the South, 

Against their batteries’ belching mouth, 
Against the fire-lined gray stone wall — 

A living line to stand or fall — 

They met their fate, this martyr band, 

For Union and their Native Land ! 

And now we come when years have gone, 
When all the States are made as one, 

When, what was welded in the fire 
Of contest, peace has drawn up nigher 
And stronger bound — we come intent 
To dedicate a monument. 

To whom? To those that fell? To all 
That hither came to live or fall! 






















































































































To all who in this holy strife 

Went forward with their sweet young life 

Prepared to give. And, let it show, 

Set high in noonday’s golden glow 
Upon this verdant field of blood, 

That life is not the highest good, 

But higher, holier, sweeter far 

Are life’s ideals. Like a star 

They point to sacrifice whose fruit 

Lives on, though tongues of men are mute. 

The future of the land, the fate 

Of eras that upon us wait, 

The race to come, and Liberty 
Secure for all the times to be — 

They dwindle human lives to naught! 

’Tis to the Cause for which we fought, 

The Country in its strength and might 
Enthroned on Justice, ruled by Right, 






















































UK n tic tarn 


A splendid chain of beauteous lands, 
Their peoples one in hearts and hands, 
The Union of the Continent — 

To these we set our monument! 



































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